The invention relates to window stickers for motor vehicles. One form of window sticker common in today's market is a sticker having a bond sheet with a water reactive starch based adhesive coating covering the entire sheet. The adhesive is wet, and then applied to a motor vehicle window. While this type of sticker is economical, it must be scraped from the window at the time of purchase, leaving adhesive residue on the window's surface, and completely destroying the label.
Another type of commonly used window sticker comprises a bond face sheet fully coated with a pressure sensitive removable adhesive adhered to a printed release liner, the printed release liner containing the necessary pricing and fuel economy information. By removing the border of the release liner, the label is affixed to the inside of a car window. This construction allows the dealer to remove the entire label, and separate the two plies, so that the customer may retain the printed release sheet for future reference. However this type of form is expensive, leaves an adhesive residue on the window surface, yellows at the exposed adhesive areas, delaminates from the window at high and low temperatures and humidity changes, and is easily ripped or removed from the window when the window is rolled open.
According to the present invention, a window sticker, a window sticker intermediate, and a method of constructing a window sticker, are provided which overcome the disadvantages discussed above, and additionally allow easy production of the window sticker utilizing continuous or sheet fed laser printers. According to the present invention, a sticker is provided which may be constructed simply and relatively inexpensively from bond paper, may be cleanly removed from a window with no adhesive residue remaining, and may be removed integrally so that the sticker may be retained by the customer as a receipt.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a window sticker is provided which comprises the following elements: A sheet of printable material having first and second faces, and opposite first and second edges, and opposite third and fourth edges. Indicia printed on the first face. Repositional adhesive patterns disposed on the first face adjacent the first and second edges. And, release strips covering the repositional adhesive patterns, and removable to expose the repositional adhesive. The sheet preferably comprises a coated hydrophobic bond paper sheet, or a printable plastic sheet, and the indicia includes fixed word indicia relating to fuel economy and price information for a motor vehicle, and also includes variable numerical indicia corresponding to and adjacent the fuel economy and price word indicia.
The repositional adhesive patterns typically comprise first and second strips of repositional adhesive adhered directly to the bond sheet, or repositional adhesive strips disposed on top of tape strips, the tape strips adhesively adhered to the bond sheet with permanent adhesive. If desired, patterns of repositional adhesive may also be disposed adjacent the third and fourth edges of the sheet, with release strips covering those patterns too.
The window sticker described above is formed from, in one embodiment a continuous web of printable material (e.g. coated hydrophobic bond paper, a plastic sheet, etc.) elongated in a first direction with the first and second opposite edges extending in the first direction. Means defining lines of weakness (e.g. perforations) are provided in a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction, to separate the web into individual stickers, with means defining tractor drive openings in the web adjacent the first and second opposite edges. Ultimately, the intermediates are burst along the lines of weakness to form individual stickers, and marginal portions containing the tractor drive openings are removed, for example by slitting.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of constructing a window sticker from a web of printable material (preferably coated hydrophobic bond paper, a plastic sheet, or the like) having first and second opposite edges elongated in a first direction, and first and second faces, is provided. The method comprises the following steps: (a) Feeding the continuous web in the first direction. (b) Printing fixed indicia on the first face of the web while practicing step (a). (c) Applying repositional adhesive patterns and covering release strips onto the first face adjacent the first and second edges while practicing step (a). Then, (d) printing variable indicia on the first face of the web, including adjacent fixed indicia. And, (e) separating the continuous web into individual window stickers having third and fourth edges perpendicular to the first and second edges.
Step (b) is practiced by printing fixed word indicia relating to fuel economy of a motor vehicle, and price information for that vehicle, while step (d) is preferably practiced with a continuous or sheet fed laser printer, to print variable numerical indicia corresponding to and adjacent the fuel economy and price word indicia. Step (c) is preferably practiced by tip-on or blow-on label techniques using double face label stock, although alternatively it may be practiced by providing a coating of repositional adhesive in strip form adjacent each of the first and second edges, and applying a release strip over each of the strips of repositional adhesive. Step (d) is preferably practiced before step (e), and step (b) is practiced before step (c).
In use of the window stickers, the release strips are removed from the repositional adhesive patterns, and the repositional adhesive is brought into contact with the inside surface of a motor vehicle window to hold the window sticker in place. The window sticker may be removed from the window and repositioned as desired. Once the motor vehicle is sold, the entire window sticker is removed from the motor vehicle, leaving no adhesive residue on the window, and the sticker is integral, and entirely readable, and may be maintained by a customer as a receipt (typically after cutting off the repositional adhesive strips with a scissors).
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a versatile, simple, economical, and advantageous window sticker for motor vehicle pricing and fuel economy information. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of invention, and from the appended claims.